Tax Reform Panels to Meet
Through Fall

The four joint legislative committees charged with tackling property tax reform held their initial meetings this month and established calendars for future sessions.

Meeting dates are as follows:

• Government Consolidation and Shared Services: Aug. 30 and every Wednesday through Oct. 25. All meetings at 10 a.m.
  
  
• Public School Funding Reform: Every Tuesday through Oct. 31, 1 p.m.
  
  
• Constitutional Reform and Citizens Property Tax Constitutional Convention: Sept. 7, and every Thursday through Sept. 28, 1 p.m.
  
  
• Public Employee Benefits Reform: Aug. 23, 24 and 31, 1 p.m. (Additional meeting dates to be announced.)

All meetings will be held in Committee Room 11, 4th Floor, Statehouse Annex, Trenton.

The panels are part of the Legislature’s special session on property tax reform. They are expected to work through fall with the goal of enacting property tax reform by the end of this year.

Promoting Tax Reform and
Quality Schools

(The following article by NJSBA President Kevin E. Ciak is based on a guest editorial that appeared in The Star-Ledger on August 10.).

New Jersey lawmakers are engaged in a special session on property tax reform and will debate education funding, the structure of school districts, and promoting shared services across municipal lines. Legislators need to create a realistic blueprint that will result in genuine property tax reform, but which will preserve the quality of our public schools. To accomplish this, they should focus on four key tasks:

• Overhaul employee benefits: Due to restrictive state regulations, New Jersey school districts that use the State Health Benefits Program (nearly half of the districts) cannot negotiate cost-containment strategies with their employees. These initiatives, common in the private sector, include changes in deductibles and co-payments, as well as employee contributions to premium costs. If school boards and local government employers in the state health program could implement these strategies, local property taxpayers could save millions of dollars.
  
  
• Encourage shared services: The majority of school districts share services in areas such as transportation, maintenance and business services. But there’s room for growth. State legislators need to establish financial incentives to encourage shared services to help bring greater savings to taxpayers.
  
  
• End the property tax addiction: Nationwide, the average state pays 50 percent of the costs to operate its public schools. New Jersey pays an average of 38 percent, with some of its districts receiving less than 10 percent. The result is an overreliance on property taxes to fund education. Tax reform cannot be achieved until we balance the state and local shares of education funding.
  
  
• Remove financial obstacles to voluntary regionalization: Since 1986, only three regional school districts have formed in New Jersey. Regionalization studies invariably find that when school districts consider consolidating, one town’s property taxes will increase, preventing the plan from moving forward.

New Jersey schools rank near the top in key indicators such as math and English test scores and high school graduation rates. Any solution to our property tax woes must continue our commitment to quality public schools.